TV personality Danielle Bregoli attends the Day N Night Festival at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 8, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Photo / Getty
TV personality Danielle Bregoli attends the Day N Night Festival at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 8, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Photo / Getty
Bhad Bhabie used to be the 13-year-old Cash Me Outside Girl who shot to global meme infamy after appearing on a Dr Phil episode titled "I Want to Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried to Frame Me for a Crime!"
Two years later, she is a 15-year-old rising rap star whose success on streaming platforms has sold out concerts in the US and now Australia.
Danielle Bregoli aka the 'Cash Me Outside' girl visits at Music Choice on February 28, 2017 in New York City. Photo / Getty
And she isn't quite the troubled teen parents might fear being their daughter's pop idol.
After a tug-of-war with her manager over her mobile phone so she won't be distracted during her interview, Danielle Bregoli reveals moments of mature insight into her rise from overnight social media fame to rap performer greeted by deafening screams everywhere she goes.
"Surprisingly I doubt myself a lot even to this day so for me it was 'stop lying to yourself, people do like you, people don't just think you're a spoiled little brat'," she said in Sydney.
"I am used to people seeing only that one side of me and now they have no other choice but to accept that is in the past, that is old.
"Everyone is a child once, everyone learns and grows up and 13 to 15 is a huge difference and people don't understand that.
"Going from 30 to 32, wow, big deal, 20 to 22 wow, big deal but 13 to 15 is a huge difference. These two years of my life have been the longest two years in my life."
A succession of singles including Hi Bich, Gucci Flip Flops and Trust Me have accumulated more than 200 million streams, generating millions in extra cash in merchandise sales and concert tickets.
Her music career wasn't predestined but the result of managers keen to leverage the troubled teen's accidental profile into a lasting brand.
Bhad Bhabie attends the Fashion Nova x Cardi B Collaboration Launch Event at Boulevard3 on November 14, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Photo / Getty
She signed a deal with Warner Music and the sweary, unapologetic performer, who was back in the headlines recently thanks to a feud with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, appears on track to outlast her meme fame.
"All it was was 'the kid got famous. What now?' she says of her transition to rap artist.
"'She loves music, OK, let's do that.' That's just what it is. I was never like 'I'm gonna get famous and be a rapper.'"
She is surprised to find she is a natural performer who chose to ignore the directions of her movement coach to "do my own thing." Bregoli tries to block out the screaming because she doesn't want to freak out about it.
And while she has taken advice about how to engage with her audience onstage, she declares her potty-mouthed rants between songs are unscripted. "You never know what I'm gonna say," she said.
While Bhad Bhabie once feared being disrespected by the producers and songwriters she works with in the studio, now her only concern is not being a "money person", an ironic twist for the young girl who became famous as the Cash Me Outside Girl.
She jokes that when her Australian best friends, YouTube stars Isaac and Elijah Bell, moved into her house after a party, it was her mum who had to point out they couldn't stay if they weren't contributing to the rent.
"I think that's gonna be a problem when I get older because I'm always trying to be nice and I don't think about money like that. I'm not the type who when we go out to eat saying 'What's your cash at, make sure you cash at me'. My mum is on my ass about it all the time."
